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Final Results
with Caleb McGaughran, GoMessiah.com reporter
Bethlehem, PA - Messiah College men's track & field finished 2nd at the MAC Indoor Championships on Saturday, with
Fred Fulton and
Alex Yoder being named Field Athlete of the Year and Track Athlete of the Year, respectively. The men scored 104 points, seven more than second-place Elizabethtown and just 13.5 points in back of first-place Lebanon Valley.
The women finished 4th overall, scoring 67 points to trail Elizabethtown (97).
Yoder and Fulton led the Falcons to the second-place finish—an exciting landing spot that probably surprised a few MAC competitors. Yoder stood out with first-place finishes in each the 200 meter dash (22.55) and 400 meter dash (50.40), while also anchoring the men's first-place 4x400 meter relay. In just those three events, Yoder helped contribute 30 points to the Falcons' 102 total points.
The men's 4x400 relay was led by sophomore
Nicholas White, who gave the team a strong start in the event. Junior
Trevor Praetsch continued the momentum in the second leg, finishing far ahead of his competitors to set up freshman Aaron Powel's strong third lap. Finally, Yoder anchored the race, bringing the relay team to their first place finish.
Fulton showed up a big way for Messiah in the field events, throwing a MAC Indoor Record (and school record) distance of 17.52 meters (57'5.75”) in the shot put. He beat his own school record of 16.81 meters that was set earlier this season.
The burly sophomore also placed third in the weight throw, breaking another school record with a toss of 16.67 meters (54'8.25”).
Fulton's classmate,
Trevor Stutzman, took second in the shot put with a toss of 15.23 meters (49'11.75”).
Drew Engle also shined for Messiah, as he took first place in the men's heptathlon with 4,505 points—92 more points than his closest competitor. He placed first in the 1,000 meter run and second in the 55 meter dash, 60 meter hurdles, pole vault, and long jump. Among his events, Engle set new personal records in the shot put (9.8m, 32'2”), high jump (1.7m, 5'7”) and the 1,000 meter run (2:45.20).
Following his heptathlon events, Engle also competed for the team in the men's pole vault. He placed second in the event at a height of 4.4 meters (14'5.25”) while senior
Colin Reisler tied with two other competitors for third place with a height of 4.25 meters (13'11.25”).
On the women's side,
Liz Martin placed fourth in both the 60 meter dash (8.07) and 200 meter dash (26.70). She also placed second in the 60 meter high hurdles with a time of 9.15 seconds. Senior
Courtney Grammar competed with Martin in the 60 meter dash, finishing with a personal best of 8.47 seconds.
The Messiah women also had good competition in the distance events. Junior
Jenny Bender claimed third in the women's 5,000 meter run, finishing with a very good time of 18:42.95. Senior
Brenda Flaherty also ran well in the 5,000 meter run finishing seventh at 19:27.48. Freshman
Tasha Becker finished directly behind Flaherty in eighth, running a personal record of 19:38.74.
Bender also scored points in the women's one mile run, finishing fourth in the event with a season best of 5:24.70. Junior Vicki Hepp and sophomore
Leah Novak also competed in the mile, with Hepp setting a new personal record of 5:47.78 while Novak ran a season best of 5:55.32.
Alyssa Mills finished third overall in the women's pentathlon, scoring 2,514 points. Mills also had several personal records including the high jump (1.51m, 4'11.5”), long jump (4.81m, 15'9.5”) and the 60 meter hurdles (11.04 seconds).
Ersikha Eugene (third place long jump), and
Rachel Bjorkman third place triple jump) also contributed high-place finishes for Messiah.
On the men's side, freshman
John Ausel placed fifth in the men's 5,000 meter run, finishing with a personal best of 15:47.64.
Another highlight of the weekend included three new personal records set by junior
Tim Hampton. Along with freshmen
Quentin Hampton and
Joel Ngui, as well as senior
Tim Minnick,
Tim Hampton completed a very good 4x200 meter relay, running a personal best in his split of the race. Hampton also set new personal records in the triple jump (12.68m, 41'7”) and the long jump (6.2m, 20'4.25”), placing second in his flight of the long jump. Sophomore
Jayson Chu also did well in the same flight as Hampton for the long jump, placing third at 6.18m (20'3.5”).
2013 MAC Indoor Track & Field Championship Awards
Female Rookie of the Year: Hilary Norris (Misericordia)
Female Field Event Athlete of the Year: Jenna Niedermayer (Elizabethtown)
Female Track Athlete of the Year: Danisha Higgs (Albright)
Women's Coach of the Year: Melissa Weidler (Lebanon Valley)
Male Rookie of the Year: Ricky Bruno (Alvernia)
Male Field Event Athlete of the Year: Fred Fulton (Messiah)
Male Track Athlete of the Year: Alex Yoder (Messiah)
Men's Coach of the Year: Vince Touey (Widener)
